Woman’s place revisited

Press, 12 July 1980, Page 17

Woman’s place revisited

A Woman’s Place? A study of the changing role of women in New Zealand by Judith Aitken. Heinemann Educational Books (NZ), new edition, 1980. 90 pp. $4.95.

(Reviewed by Jenny Phillips) Judith Aitken has updated her book, "A Woman’s Place?” In this new edition her publishers say it was necessary so that instead of “looking forward to exciting new developments in _ female emancipation” as did the 1975 edition, the book could "look back at the extremely slow pace at which these developments have or are taking place currently.” That the feminist utopia has not arrived is ironically illustrated in the publisher’s letter which this reviewer received with the new edition. Addressed to “The Editor” it is, no doubt, a form letter sent to all those publications which use book reviews. It begins “Dear Sir.” In the letter the publisher tells us Ms Aitken’s new edition is “somewhat more strident” than the last. I have yet to hear the word “strident” used in connection with males. It is routinely used to denigrate women who dare to be firm. "A Woman’s Place” is a well researched book, crammed with facts and figures. The history of women in this country 7 is documented, along with the situation of women in education,

in the home, and in the workforce. Appendices include a checklist for evaluating sexism in school books, a table showing the occupational status of men and women in New Zealand, significant dates and so on. The volume of information makes this a valuable reference work.

Who is it for? The publishers hedge their bets, saying it is written at a level which will appeal to adolescents and adults. This is the book’s flaw. The exercises at the end of each chapter and the checklist for evaluating sexism in school books indicate the author has children much in mind. But I cannot see the book holding the interest of an adolescent. Badly edited, the book is full of indigestible wads of passive prose. 1 glazed. An adolescent would walk away.

With the text heavily cut and printed in a larger type face this could have been a useful textbook for children. To relate all the photographs to the text would have been an improvement. As it is, it would be a useful resource book for teachers, but of little value in the classroom. “A Woman’s Place?” is a handy reference work to consult for an elusive fact or statistic and as such, of course, the new edition provides necessary updating. I doubt whether this was quite what the author had in mind, though.